play along

British  

verb

1. to cooperate (with), esp as a temporary measure

2. (tr) to manipulate as if in a game, esp for one's own advantage

   he played the widow along until she gave him her money

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play along Idioms  

1. Cooperate or pretend to cooperate, as in They decided to play along with the robbers, at least for a while. [Colloquial; 1920s]

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Example Sentences

So my thought was, “OK, I’m going to play along with this.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

So far, it has paid for investors to play along.

From Barron's • Feb. 20, 2026

When useful idiots play along, the hypocrisy is double: Perpetrators pretend to be humane, and apologists pretend to believe them.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026

I decided to play along with Syndicate after taking advice from a senior BBC editor.

From BBC • Sep. 29, 2025

If this is going to work, I need to play along, disgusting as it is.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir